147,500 S’pore Workers Lost Their Jobs In 2020 So Far, 9,920 Were Retrenched

Retrenchments Rose To 108% During ‘Circuit Breaker’ Compared To Q1

As Covid-19 continues to wreck the economy, unemployment rates are also increasing.

Ministry of Manpower (MOM) data shows that retrenchment rates in Q2 went up by 108% compared to Q1, a staggering double from Q1 amidst the ‘Circuit Breaker’, according to TODAY Online.

Q2 here refers to the Apr-Jun period.

Retrenchments shot up by 2 times in Q2

The following is data showing the unemployment rates as well as retrenchments between Q1 and Q2 2020.

Full data can be found here.

The number of retrenchments is based on Singapore residents — including citizens and PRs.

Retrenched workers Q1: 3,220
Retrenched workers Q2: 6,700 (+108%)

Total unemployed Singaporeans in Q2: 79,600
Total unemployed Singaporeans + PRs in Q2: 90,500

Singapore residents’ unemployment rate in Q1 2020: 3.3%
Singapore residents’ unemployment rate in Q2 2020: 3.9%

Singapore citizens’ unemployment rate in Q1 2020: 3.5%
Singapore citizens’ unemployment rate in Q2 2020: 4%

Overall unemployment rate in Q1 2020: 2.4%
Overall unemployment rate in Q2 2020: 2.9%

Total retrenchments Q1 excluding foreign domestic workers: 25,600
Total retrenchments Q2 excluding foreign domestic workers: 121,800

‘Circuit Breaker’ massively impacted economy

Unfortunately, due to facing an invisible virus and locking down, many more people lost their jobs during the ‘Circuit Breaker’, especially in sectors dealing with tourism and entertainment.

The situation doesn’t look likely to improve significantly despite restrictions easing up, said MOM.

This is because there are second waves of Covid-19 infections in other countries and the travel sector will continue to suffer.

It’ll also affect when measures here will ease up due to the risk of a second wave hitting our shores.

We hope that the contractions ease soon. In the meantime, the government is creating jobs, traineeships, and opportunities through the Jobs Support Scheme.

Featured image by MS News.